Jesse Durbin Ward (February 11, 1819 – May 22, 1886) was an Ohio lawyer, politician, newspaper publisher, and American Civil War officer.

Early life and career

Ward was born in Augusta, Kentucky. His mother, Rebecca Patterson, named him in honor of the Rev. John Price Durbin (1800–1876), a noted Methodist preacher, who was a school mate of hers. Around 1823, the family moved to Fayette County, Indiana, in the southeastern part of that state. Josiah Morrow, the historian of Warren County, wrote of Ward: :His early opportunities for education were limited, but such was his thirst for knowledge that he became an insatiable reader, and, when he was eighteen years old he had read every book he had ever seen. He has never lost his studious habits, and when at home he is most frequently found in his library . . . . He attended for two years Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, one county east of Fayette and across the state line, then taught school in Warren County and settled there. He studied law under Judge

George J. Smith George Joseph Smith (November 7, 1859 – December 24, 1913) was a United States House of Representatives, U.S. Representative from New York (state), New York. Early life and career Smith was born in Kingston, New York, to parents George J. ...

(1799–1878) and

Thomas Corwin Thomas Corwin (July 29, 1794 – December 18, 1865), also known as Tom Corwin, The Wagon Boy, and Black Tom was a politician from the state of Ohio. He represented Ohio in both houses of Congress and served as the 15th governor of Ohio and the ...

, a Lebanon attorney who later was

Governor of Ohio A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

. After he was admitted to practice, he was Corwin's law partner. In 1845, Ward, a Whig, was elected Warren County's seventh Prosecuting Attorney, an office once held by Governor Corwin. He served from 1846 to 1850. From 1853 to 1854, he represented Warren County in the Fiftieth General Assembly, the first held under the new state constitution adopted in 1851. He served only one two-year term in the legislature. During that time, he sponsored legislation for the state to abandon the unprofitable

Warren County Canal The Warren County Canal was a branch of the Miami and Erie Canal in southwestern Ohio about in length that connected the Warren County seat of Lebanon to the main canal at Middletown in the mid-19th century. Lebanon was at the crossroads of two ...

that connected Lebanon to the

Miami and Erie Canal The Miami and Erie Canal was a canal that ran from Cincinnati to Toledo, Ohio, creating a water route between the Ohio River and Lake Erie. Construction on the canal began in 1825 and was completed in 1845 at a cost to the state government of $ ...

at Middletown. Upon his retirement from the legislature, he opened a law office in Cincinnati, Ohio, but continued to live at Lebanon. Ward switched to the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

about this time and was its nominee for Congress in 1856 and

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

in 1858. (He lost the latter to Republican

Christopher Wolcott Christopher Parsons Wolcott was a Republican politician from the state of Ohio. He was Ohio Attorney General 1856–1860 and United States Assistant Secretary of War from 1862 to 1863. Biography Wolcott was born December 17, 1820, in Wolcott, C ...

.) In 1860, he supported Illinois Senator

Stephen A. Douglas Stephen Arnold Douglas (April 23, 1813 – June 3, 1861) was an American politician and lawyer from Illinois. A senator, he was one of two nominees of the badly split Democratic Party for president in the 1860 presidential election, which wa ...

for President.

Civil War

When President Abraham Lincoln called for volunteers to fight in the Civil War, Ward was the first in his congressional district to enlist. He entered the army as a private, declining a commission. He rose to be a major in the 17th Ohio Volunteer Infantry and saw action at

Mill Springs The Battle of Mill Springs, also known as the Battle of Fishing Creek in Confederate States of America, Confederate terminology, and the Battle of Logan's Cross Roads in Union (American Civil War), Union terminology, was fought in Wayne County, ...

, Corinth,

Stone River In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks form the Earth's o ...

, Hoover's Gap, and Chickamauga. At Chickamauga, his left arm was wounded and permanently crippled.Eicher, John H., and David J. Eicher, ''Civil War High Commands.'' Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2001. . p. 553. Ward was appointed colonel of the 17th Ohio Volunteer Infantry on March 1, 1864. He resigned his commission on November 8, 1864. On January 13, 1866 President

Andrew Johnson Andrew Johnson (December 29, 1808July 31, 1875) was the 17th president of the United States, serving from 1865 to 1869. He assumed the presidency as he was vice president at the time of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Johnson was a Dem ...

nominated Ward for appointment to the grade of

brevet Brevet may refer to: Military * Brevet (military), higher rank that rewards merit or gallantry, but without higher pay * Brevet d'état-major, a military distinction in France and Belgium awarded to officers passing military staff college * Aircre ...

brigadier general, to rank from October 18, 1865, for his "gallant and meritorious conduct at the battle of Chickamauga," and the United States Senate confirmed the appointment on March 12, 1866.

Postbellum career

After the war ended, President

named him United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio. In 1870, he was elected a senator in the

Ohio General Assembly The Ohio General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Ohio. It consists of the 99-member Ohio House of Representatives and the 33-member Ohio Senate. Both houses of the General Assembly meet at the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus ...

. At Lebanon, Ward founded'' The

Lebanon Patriot ''The Lebanon Patriot'', now defunct, was an American newspaper published weekly at Lebanon, Ohio, the seat of Warren County. The paper was founded by General Durbin Ward as a Democratic paper and first published on January 16, 1868. Warren ...

'', a

Democratic Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

paper first published on January 16, 1868. Warren County being ardently Republican, the paper was to take the place of the previous Democratic paper in the county, the ''Democratic Citizen'', which was destroyed by a mob at the outbreak of the Civil War. Ward sold the paper to Edward Warwick in the 1870s. In 1883, Ward was president of the Ohio State Bar Association.

Death

Jesse Durbin Ward died at Lebanon, Ohio on May 22, 1886. He was buried at Lebanon Cemetery, Lebanon, Ohio.

Notes

References

*Dallas R. Bogan. ''Warren County's Involvement in the Civil War''. Franklin, Ohio: The Author, 1991. *Eicher, John H., and David J. Eicher, ''Civil War High Commands.'' Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2001. . *Josiah Morrow. ''The History of Warren County, Ohio''. Chicago: W.H. Beers, 1883.

External links

* * , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Ward, Durbin 1819 births 1886 deaths 19th-century American newspaper founders 19th-century American newspaper publishers (people) Methodists from Ohio American newspaper publishers (people) County district attorneys in Ohio Members of the Ohio House of Representatives Miami University alumni Ohio lawyers Ohio state senators Ohio Whigs 19th-century American politicians People from Augusta, Kentucky Politicians from Cincinnati People from Lebanon, Ohio People of Ohio in the American Civil War Union Army generals United States Attorneys for the Southern District of Ohio 19th-century American journalists American male journalists 19th-century American male writers Journalists from Ohio Southern Methodists